SciNews20080714

Public Release: 6-Jul-2008
Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting
Phytotherapy Research
Herbal remedy reduces obesity and heart disease?
Scientists from Germany have recently discovered that extracts of a traditional herbal remedy derived from Tabebuia impetiginosa can act to delay the absorption of dietary fat in animal models. They believe that the extract could be incorporated into a food supplement which may not only reduce obesity, but also lessen the risk of development of type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.
Contact: Holly Astley
hma25@cam.ac.uk
44-779-285-5259
Society for Experimental Biology
Public Release: 7-Jul-2008
Pediatrics
A baby's smile is a natural high
The baby's smile that gladdens a mother's heart also lights up the reward centers of her brain, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report that appears in the journal Pediatrics today.
National Institutes of Health, General Clinical Research Center, Kane Family Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse
Contact: Glenna Picton
picton@bcm.edu
713-798-4710
Baylor College of Medicine
Public Release: 7-Jul-2008
Pediatrics
Newborn vitamin A reduces infant mortality
A single, oral dose of vitamin A, given to infants shortly after birth in the developing world can reduce their risk of death by 15 percent, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study is published in the July 2008 edition of the journal Pediatrics.
US Agenc for International Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Contact: Tim Parsons
tmparson@jhsph.edu
410-955-7619
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Public Release: 7-Jul-2008
Journal of American College of Cardiology
Pregnancy associated with increased risk of heart attack
Although acute myocardial infarction is rare in women of child-bearing age, pregnancy can increase a woman's risk of heart attack 3- to 4-fold, according to a study published in the July 15, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Since women today may delay having children until later in life, and advances in reproductive medicine enable older women to conceive, the occurrence of AMI associated with pregnancy is expected to increase.
Contact: Amanda Jekowsky
ajekowsk@acc.org
202-375-6645
American College of Cardiology
Public Release: 7-Jul-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
Can you hear me now?
When it comes to cellular communication networks, a primitive single-celled microbe that answers to the name of Monosiga brevicollis has a leg up on animals composed of billions of cells. It commands a signaling network more elaborate and diverse than found in any multicellular organism higher up on the evolutionary tree, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered.
Contact: Gina Kirchweger
Kirchweger@salk.edu
858-453-410-01340
Salk Institute
Public Release: 7-Jul-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
New insight to demineralization
Researchers explain the dissolution behavior of silica glasses manufactured by different processes, a natural biologically produced silica and a synthetic, dispersed or colloidal silica. Their findings present the basis for understanding how simple modulations in solution chemistry can tune the durability of silica in humid or wet environments. Moreover, the insights suggest a means by which one could use simple, environmentally benign solutions to regulate surface roughness at the nanoscale.
US Department of Energy, National Science Foundation
Contact: Susan Trulove
STrulove@vt.edu
540-231-5646
Virginia Tech
Public Release: 7-Jul-2008
PLoS Medicine
Crawling the Internet to track infectious disease outbreaks
Could Internet discussion forums, listservs and online news outlets be an informative source of information on disease outbreaks? A team of researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School thinks so, and it has launched a real-time, automated data-gathering system called HealthMap to gather, organize and disseminate this online intelligence. They describe their project in this week's PLoS Medicine.
Contact: Andrew Hyde
press@plos.org
01-223-463-330
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 7-Jul-2008
Journal of Neurochemistry
Japanese encephalitis virus causes 'double trouble' to brain
Recent research at the National Brain Research Center, India, published in Journal of Neurochemistry, has shown that Japanese encephalitis virus, commonly known as brain fever, damages the brain in two ways -- not only killing brain cells but also preventing the birth of new cells from neural stem/progenitor cells and depleting the NPC pool in the brain.
Contact: Anirban Basu, Ph.D.
anirban@nbrc.ac.in
91-124-233-8922
Wiley-Blackwell
Public Release: 7-Jul-2008
Baseball diamonds: the lefthander's best friend
Baseball diamonds are a left-hander's best friend. That's because the game was designed to make a lefty the "Natural," according to David A. Peters, Ph.D., the McDonnell Douglas Professor of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, and uber baseball fan. Peters is a mechanical engineer who specializes in aircraft and helicopter engineering and has a different approach to viewing America's Favorite Pastime.
Contact: David A. Peterson
dap@wustl.edu
314-935-4337
Washington University in St. Louis
Wasps use parasitic mites as baby bodyguards
In a previously unsuspected relationship, the potter wasp goes as far as offering a home to a parasitic mite that helps fight off intruders at its nest
12:49 07 July 2008
Love really is blind, or at least blinkered
Attractive people of the opposite sex are repulsive when you're in love, finds a study – perhaps so you gain a reproductive advantage
13:47 07 July 2008
Really?
The Claim: Beware of Drink Mixers Based on Diet Soda
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Some people contend the artificial sweeteners in diet soda speed the absorption of alcohol.
Vital Signs
Prevention: Rotavirus Vaccine Said to Be Working
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Published: July 8, 2008
The vaccine against rotavirus, first offered last fall, appears to be working.
Cases
Not a Moment Too Soon, I Thought of Tim Russert
By MICHAEL BICKS
Thinking of Tim Russert helped me realize I was having a heart attack in time to get help.
* Health Guide: Heart Attack »
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Kaiser Permanente study finds keeping a food diary doubles diet weight loss
Study of nearly 1,700 participants shows that keeping a food diary can double a person's weight loss. The study, which will appear in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that the best predictors of weight loss were how frequently food diaries were kept and how many support sessions the participants attended. Those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records.
NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
Contact: Danielle Cass
danielle.x.cass@kp.org
510-267-5354
Kaiser Permanente
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
Journal of Neuroscience
Brain chemical shown to induce both desire and dread
The chemical dopamine induces both desire and dread, according to new animal research in the July 9 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. Although dopamine is well known to motivate animals and people to seek positive rewards, the study indicates that it also can promote negative feelings like fear. The finding may help explain why dopamine dysfunction is implicated not only in drug addiction, which involves excessive desire, but in schizophrenia and some phobias, which involve excessive fear.
Contact: DeeDee Clendenning
dclendenning@sfn.org
202-962-4000
Society for Neuroscience
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
PLoS ONE
Do we think that machines can think?
When our PC goes on strike again we tend to curse it as if it was a human. The question of why and under what circumstances we attribute human-like properties to machines and how such processes manifest on a cortical level was investigated in a project published in PLoS ONE.
Contact: Dr. Sören Krach
skrach@ukaachen.de
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
PLoS ONE
Why musicians make us weep and computers don't
Music can soothe the savage breast much better if played by musicians rather than clever computers, according to a new University of Sussex-led study published in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.
Contact: Rebecca Walton
rwalton@plos.org
44-122-346-3333
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
British Medical Journal
Sex really does get better with age
An increasing number of 70 year olds are having good sex and more often, and women in this age group are particularly satisfied with their sex lives, according to a study published today online.
Contact: Nils Beckman
nils.beckman@neuro.gu.se
46-739-072-056
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
Biology Letters
Fossil feathers preserve evidence of color, say Yale scientists
The traces of organic material found in fossil feathers are remnants of pigments that once gave birds their color, according to Yale scientists whose paper in Biology Letters opens up the potential to depict the original coloration of fossilized birds and their ancestors, the dinosaurs.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Janet Rettig Emanuel
janet.emanuel@yale.edu
203-432-2157
Yale University
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
Journal of the American Dietetic Association
Wake Forest researchers say popular fish contains potentially dangerous fatty acid combination
Farm-raised tilapia, one of the most highly consumed fish in America, has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and, perhaps worse, very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. The researchers say the combination could be a potentially dangerous food source for some patients with heart disease, arthritis, asthma and other allergic and auto-immune diseases that are particularly vulnerable to an "exaggerated inflammatory response."
NIH/National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, NIH/Office of Dietary Supplements
Contact: Mark Wright
mwright@wfubmc.edu
336-716-3382
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
Pocket-sized magnetic resonance imaging
The term MRI scan brings to mind the gigantic, expensive machines that are installed in hospitals. But research scientists have now developed small portable MRI scanners that perform their services in the field: for instance to examine ice cores.
Contact: Dr. Frank Volke
Frank.Volke@ibmt.fraunhofer.de
49-689-498-0405
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
Cancer Cell
Argyrin: Natural substance raises hope for new cancer therapies
The effective treatment of many forms of cancer continues to pose a major problem for medicine. Many tumors fail to respond to standard forms of chemotherapy or become resistant to the medication. Scientists at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research in Braunschweig, the Hannover Medical School and Leibniz-Universität in Hanover have now discovered a chemical mechanism with which a natural substance -- argyrin -- destroys tumors. Today, the researchers publish their findings in the renowned scientific journal Cancer Cell.
Contact: Hannes Schlender
presse@helmholtz-hzi.de
49-531-618-11400
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
Neuropsychopharmacology
UNC study ties ending moderate drinking to depression
Scientific evidence has long suggested that moderate drinking offers some protection against heart disease, certain types of stroke and some forms of cancer. But new research shows that stopping drinking -- including at moderate levels -- may lead to health problems including depression and a reduced capacity of the brain to produce new neurons, a process called neurogenesis.
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse, UNC Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies
Contact: Les Lang
llang@med.unc.edu
919-966-9366
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
From foe to friend: Researchers use salmonella as a way to administer vaccines in the body
Researchers at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have made a major step forward in their work to develop a biologically engineered organism that can effectively deliver an antigen in the body. The researchers report that they have been able to use live salmonella bacterium as the containment/delivery method for an antigen.
US Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Skip Derra
skip.derra@asu.edu
480-965-4823
Arizona State University
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Insect warning colors aid cancer and tropical disease drug discovery
Brightly colored beetles or butterfly larvae nibbling on a plant may signal the presence of chemical compounds active against cancer cell lines and tropical parasitic diseases, according to researchers at Smithsonian's Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Such clues could speed drug discovery and provide insight into the ecological relationships between tropical-forest plants and insects that feed on them.
U.S. National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture's International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups program, National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Levinson Fellowship- STRI-McGill NEO
Contact: Beth King
kingb@si.edu
703-487-3770 x8216
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Public Release: 8-Jul-2008
PLoS ONE
USC School of Dentistry researchers uncover benefits of aspirin for treating osteoporosis
Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry have uncovered the health benefits of aspirin in the fight against osteoporosis.
Contact: Angelica Urquijo
urquijo@usc.edu
213-740-6568
University of Southern California
Pulling a tooth could lead to tailor-made sperm
Stem cells from human teeth have been coaxed into becoming sperm by injecting them into the testes of mice, claim researchers
15:06 08 July 2008
Loud and clear
Fossil finds suggest an early origin for human speech
It may be time to rethink the stereotype of grunting, wordless Neandertals. The prehistoric humans may have been quite chatty ― at least if the ear canals of their ancestors are any indication.
By Tia Ghose
July 7th, 2008
Public Release: 9-Jul-2008
Nature
New fossil tells twisted tale of how flatfishes ended up with two eyes on one side of head
A newly identified fossil and the reinterpretation of known fossils, fill in a "missing link" in the evolution of flatfishes and explain one of nature's most extraordinary phenomena. All living flatfishes (halibut, sole ...) have a bizarre adaptation: both eyes on one side of their head. This unique specialization provides a survival advantage: flatfishes can use both eyes to look up from the seafloor. But scientists have had no idea -- until now -- how this feature evolved.
Contact: Greg Borzo
gborzo@fieldmuseum.org
312-665-7106
Field Museum
Public Release: 9-Jul-2008
Ionophore reverses Alzheimer's within days in mouse models
Scientists report a remarkable improvement in Alzheimer's transgenic mice following treatment with a new drug. The study provides the first demonstration that an ionophore, a compound that transports metal ions across cell membranes, can elicit rapid and pronounced improvement in neuropathology and cognitive function in mouse models of Alzheimer's Disease.
Prana Biotechnology Ltd., Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, Alzheimer's Association
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
Public Release: 9-Jul-2008
Nature
Study puts solar spin on asteroid moon formation
Asteroids with moons, which scientists call binary asteroids, are common in the solar system. A longstanding question has been how most such moons are formed. In this week's issue of the journal Nature, a trio of astronomers from Maryland and France say the surprising answer is sunlight, which can increase or decrease the spin rate of an asteroid. Their findings match observations and give information important for deflecting threatening asteroids away from Earth.
National Science Foundation, NASA, European Space Agency, French National Planetology Program
Contact: Lee Tune
ltune@umd.edu
301-405-4679
University of Maryland
Public Release: 9-Jul-2008
Vaccine
Vaccinated infants well-protected against severe pneumococcal infection in Norway
In 2006, a pneumococcal vaccine was introduced in the childhood vaccination program in Norway. Two years later, the experiences have been published in the journal Vaccine. The results show a strong decline in serious pneumococcal infections among young children.
Contact: Media Contact
info@fhi.no
Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Public Release: 9-Jul-2008
Annals of Neurology
10 people killed by new CJD-like disease
A new form of fatal dementia, which resembles Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, has been discovered in 16 Americans, 10 of whom have already died from the disease. Like CJD and BSE, the brain tissue of victims is full of tiny holes, thought to be caused by the accumulation of prions. However, the new disease also has features that are different from known forms of CJD. No one yet knows how the disease originates.
Contact: Claire Bowles
claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk
44-207-611-1210
New Scientist
Public Release: 9-Jul-2008
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Money makes the heart grow less fond... but more hardworking
Money is a necessity: it provides us with material objects that are important for survival and for entertainment, and it is often used as a reward. But recent studies have shown that money is not only a device for gaining wealth, but a factor in personal performance, interpersonal relations and helping behavior, as well.
Contact: Katie Kline
kkline@psychologicalscience.org
202-293-9300
Association for Psychological Science
Public Release: 9-Jul-2008
Novitates
Big brains arose twice in higher primates
After taking a fresh look at an old fossil, John Flynn, Frick Curator of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, and colleagues determined that the brains of the ancestors of modern neotropical primates were as small as those of their early fossil simian counterparts in the Old World. This means one of the hallmarks of primate biology, increased brain size, arose independently in isolated groups -- the platyrrhines of the Americas and the catarrhines of Africa and Eurasia.
National Science Foundation, John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Contact: Kristin Phillips
kphillips@amnh.org
212-496-3419
American Museum of Natural History
Public Release: 9-Jul-2008
American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy
Some drugs increase risk of falling: UNC researchers
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have created a list of prescription drugs that increase the risk of falling for patients aged 65 and older who take four or more medications on a regular basis.
Contact: Patric Lane
patric_lane@unc.edu
919-962-8596
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Public Release: 9-Jul-2008
Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Scientists learn how food affects the brain
In addition to helping protect us from heart disease and cancer, a balanced diet and regular exercise can also protect the brain, and ward off mental disorders. Changes in diet are a viable strategy for enhancing cognitive abilities, protecting the brain from damage, and counteracting the effects of aging, said Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, UCLA professor of neurosurgery and physiological science, who has spent years studying the effects of food and exercise on the brain.
Contact: Stuart Wolpert
swolpert@support.ucla.edu
310-206-0511
University of California - Los Angeles
Now the Moon reveals its water
An analysis of volcanic glass collected during the Apollo missions reveals the Moon's interior may hold as much water as Earth's
18:00 09 July 2008
Public Release: 10-Jul-2008
Cell
Location, location, location
Neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center have solved a mystery that lies at the heart of human learning, and they say the solution may help explain some forms of mental retardation as well as provide clues to overall brain functioning.
National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Whitehall Foundation, American Diabetes Association
Contact: Karen Mallet
km463@georgetown.edu
414-312-7085
Georgetown University Medical Center
Public Release: 10-Jul-2008
Naturopaths support tougher regulation of complementary medicine
Naturopaths are strongly in favor of regulation of their industry, a University of Queensland researcher has found.
Contact: Marlene McKendry
communications@uq.edu.au
61-401-996-847
Research Australia
Referees award more points when they see red
Olympic sports such as boxing could be at risk of unconscious bias from refs who see competitors wearing red as being more dominant
14:20 10 July 200
Public Release: 10-Jul-2008
American Journal of Ophthalmology
Retina transplants show promise in patients with retinal degeneration
Preliminary research shows encouraging results with transplantation of retinal cells in patients with blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, according to a report in the August issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology.
Contact: Donna Santaromita
d.santaromita@elsevier.com
212-633-3962
Elsevier
Public Release: 10-Jul-2008
Thorax
Link shown between thunderstorms and asthma attacks in metro Atlanta area
In the first in-depth study of its kind ever done in the Southeastern United States, researchers at the University of Georgia and Emory University have discovered a link between thunderstorms and asthma attacks in the metro Atlanta area that could have a "significant public health impact."
Contact: Kim Osborne
kosborne@uga.edu
706-583-0913
University of Georgia
Public Release: 10-Jul-2008
Science
A colorful approach to solar energy
Revisiting a once-abandoned technique, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have successfully created a sophisticated, yet affordable, method to turn ordinary glass into a high-tech solar concentrator.
Contact: Joshua A. Chamot
jchamot@nsf.gov
703-292-7730
National Science Foundation
Public Release: 11-Jul-2008
Cognition
Psychologist poses new hand-eye relationship
Psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis, led by Richard A. Abrams, Ph.D., professor of psychology, have shown that to see objects better, you should take the matter into your own hands. They have demonstrated that humans more thoroughly inspect objects when their hands are near the object rather than farther away from it. Humans have to analyze objects near their hands to figure out how to handle the objects or to protect against them.
Contact: Richard Abrams
rabrams@wustl.edu
314-935-6538
Washington University in St. Louis
Public Release: 11-Jul-2008
Clinical Cancer Research
Magnolia compound hits elusive target in cancer cells
The natural compound honokiol blocks survival signals from the Ras family of genes in breast, lung and bladder cancer cells. As a drug target, Ras is considered difficult to approach chemically. Honokiol comes from magnolia trees and has been used in Japanese and Chinese herbal medicines.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Vince Dollard
vdollar@emory.edu
404-778-4580
Emory University
Nanotubes bring artificial photosynthesis a step nearer
Carbon nanotubes have the right properties to allow a key step in photosynthesis that has eluded chemists until now, say experts
10:20 11 July 2008
Side-effects analysis reveals new uses for old drugs
Looking into the links between over 700 common drugs has revealed hundreds of pharmaceutical surprises
11:28 11 July 2008
Giant vacuum cleaner leaves reefs thriving
Sucking problem algae from beneath the sea may sound like a futile task, but a trial shows the technique can help preserve coral reefs
12:52 11 July 2008
Hot super-Earths could host life after all
The massive, rocky worlds – even those orbiting searingly close to their stars – may provide the right conditions for life, new research suggests
16:44 11 July 2008